Analog-to-Digital

Analog-to-Digital

“Biological evolution is too slow for the human species. Over the next few decades, it’s going to be left in the dust.” – Ray Kurzweil.

A brave new world is on the immediate horizon for mankind. Like never before, we are able to quantify what it is to be a human being, to be a living, working, body and mind. From simple pedometers, to the most complex artificial organs, to pacemaker like devices in our brains to control Parkinsonian symptoms, we can now bring these formerly analog readings into a digital world. These are “sensors” that can measure any number of human metrics both externally and internally.

These sensors lead us to the frontier of the “Quantified Self”. Humans willing and able to measure the performance and ongoing operation of their own bodies and lives, in an attempt to infer how activity, diet and other factors affect their own well being. Although it may seem science fiction, we are already well immersed in a world where there are patches that can test pheromones and perspiration, there are sensors that can be implanted in the colon, devices that can sit in the pancreas, listen to the heart, measure urine samples in toilets and communicate urine test results directly to your smart phone, and stool testers being embedded into sewer pipes. There are chips that sit in USB devices that can process saliva and identify mutation in DNA in minutes. And surprisingly the regulators are moving towards this new reality.

We are at an inflection point where we can bridge the analog signals of the body’s physiology in real time to continuously drive diagnosis and care. This bridging of the two worlds is a reality, and arguably will be the greatest medical innovation of our civilization. The Human API intends to provide a framework within which we can share and maximize the impact of these innovations for individuals, as well as entire patient populations. We intend to help shape this brave new world with you, together.